BMW Championship is moving day for the FedEx Cup Playoffs

Sep 3, 2014 8:55:34 PM

The third week of the FedEx Cup Playoffs is moving week. Just as any typical tournament during the season sees contenders move into contention on Saturday’s, the BMW Championship takes that role in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. The only difference is you’re either in or you’re out when the TOUR Championship starts. A golfer can’t put together a magical Sunday and win.

Following the BMW Championship, the Top 30 players will be seeded in a winner-take-all showdown for about $10 million. Not bad for a month of work.

Sixty-nine of the 70 players left after the Deutsche Bank Championship will tee it up at the BMW Championship and any of those players can make it into the TOUR Championship with a win this weekend.

Say whatever you want about past flaws in the FedEx Cup, but that stat alone is going to make it a fierce competition this weekend.

The current Top 10 will have to put together a disastrous performance at the BMW Championship to miss being seeded in the Top 30 for the TOUR Championship. That list includes: Chris Kirk, Rory McIlroy, Hunter Mahan, Jimmy Walker, Matt Kuchar, Bubba Watson, Jason Day, Jim Furyk, Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler.

Yet there are a slew of names behind them who are also likely to crack the Top 30 and who have a good enough game going into the BMW Championship to really move up the standings. Amongst those golfers are: Zach Johnson, Adam Scott, Martin Kaymer, Bill Haas, Webb Simpson, Kevin Na, Keegan Bradley and Sergio Garcia.

Being in the Top 30 going into the BMW Championship is a good position to be in, but it doesn’t secure a golfer anything for the TOUR Championship. The list of names on the current bubble of the Top 30 is impressive and shouldn’t be overlooked. That list includes: Charles Howell III, Charley Hoffman, Ernie Else, Ryan Moore, Charl Schwartzel, Graeme McDowell, Henrik Stenson, Phil Mickelson and more.

With the cuts after each tournament and the resetting of the Top 30 once the TOUR Championship hits, it’s pretty difficult to pick a winner for the FedEx Cup Playoffs. In an earlier column, I said my Top 5 outside of Rory McIlroy would be Watson, Fowler, Walker, Kuchar and Spieth and those are looking like some pretty decent picks.

I still think McIlroy will end up winning the TOUR Championship and continue building momentum for the Ryder Cup. He’s just had one of those magical years we haven’t seen since Tiger’s dominant streak.

I’ll also keep the rest of the Top 6 as is which means each guy has some work to do. Watson needs to go from 6th to 2nd, Fowler from 10th to 3rd, Walker remains at 4th, Kuchar remains in 5th and Spieth from 9th to 6th.

Those picks would have looked really good if the tournament ended right now, but we’ve still got two to go. We’ll see how things shake out at the BMW Championship and reassess when the TOUR Championship rolls around.

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